μάγος

Pronunciation

• IPA (5th-century BC Attic): /má.ɡos/^[1]
• IPA (4th-century AD Koine): /ˈma.ɣos/^[1]
• IPA (10th-century Byzantine): /ˈma.ɣos/^[1]

Forms

μάγος (mágos) m or f (neuter μάγον); second declension^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Old Persian maguš, the name of a Median tribe with priestly functions (Avestan moγu- (moγu-)).^[2][3][1] Since the original meaning of the Iranian word is unknown, it has no further etymology.^[2][3] Rosół rejects proposed Akkadian sources and calls it without doubt an Iranian loanword.^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Its first recorded uses are in Heraclitus, Sophocles' Oedipus the King (387), Euripides and Herodotus.^[5][2] Aeschylus has the name Μᾶγος (Mâgos) in the Persians.^[2]

Semantic evolution

Herodotus, Xenophon, Aristotle and Plutarch use it for a member of the Median or Persian class of priests and diviners, and Herodotus once for a Median tribe.^[6][1] From the 5th century BC (Sophocles, Euripides, Plato, Aeschines) it also meant a magician, sorcerer or charlatan, usually in a bad sense.^[6][2] The New Testament has both senses, the Magi and the sorcerer.^[6]

Its derivatives include μαγικός (magikós) “magical” (the Septuagint, Plutarch), μαγεύω (mageúō) “to enchant” and μαγεία (mageíā) “magic”.^[2] Latin borrowed it as magus.^[7][1] Modern Greek μάγος is a magician, and μάγισσα a witch, a medieval derivative.^[8]

Timeline

• 6th–5th century BC – Heraclitus uses it.^[5][9]
• 5th century BC – Herodotus uses it for the Median priests.^[6][5][9]
• 5th century BC – Sophocles uses it for a charlatan.^[6][5][9]
• 1st century AD – The New Testament uses it for the Magi and for a sorcerer.^[6]
• Medieval – The feminine μάγισσα, “witch”, appears.^[8]

Meanings

Noun

1. A magus, member of the Median or Persian priestly class.^[6][1]
2. (plural) The Magians, a Median tribe.^[6][1]
3. A magician, sorcerer; a charlatan.^[6][1]

Adjective

1. Magical, enchanting.^[2][1]

Word family

• μαγικός (magikós)

Related words

• Latin magus
• English magic

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g Beekes, Robert S. P. (2010), Etymological Dictionary of Greek, with the assistance of Lucien van Beek, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 10, Leiden; Boston: Brill
3. ^ a b Frisk, Hjalmar (1960–1972), Griechisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3 vols, Heidelberg: Carl Winter
4. ^ Rosół, Rafał (2013), Frühe semitische Lehnwörter im Griechischen, Frankfurt am Main: Peter Lang
5. ^ a b c d Keersmaekers, Alek (2021–2025), GLAUx: The Greek Language Automated corpus, https://github.com/alekkeersmaekers/glaux
6. ^ a b c d e f g h i Diggle, James, et al., eds. (2021), The Cambridge Greek Lexicon, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
7. ^ Saalfeld, Günther Alexander (1874), Index Graecorum vocabulorum in linguam latinam translatorum, Berlin: Weidmann
8. ^ a b Ινστιτούτο Νεοελληνικών Σπουδών (Ίδρυμα Μανόλη Τριανταφυλλίδη) (1998), Λεξικό της κοινής νεοελληνικής, Thessaloniki: Aristotle University of Thessaloniki
9. ^ a b c Rodríguez Adrados, Francisco, et al., eds. (1980–), Diccionario Griego-Español, Madrid: CSIC, http://dge.cchs.csic.es/xdge